Nasscom, iSpirt compete for start-ups' attention

Indian tech start-ups may find it easier to get on the radar of Silicon Valley investors as Nasscom and iSpirt compete to introduce them to suitors.

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MUMBAI: Indian technology start-ups are likely find it easier to get on the radar of Silicon Valley investors as Nasscom and the recently-formed iSpirt compete with each other to introduce them to potential suitors.

Days after iSpirt -- the newly-formed thinktank for software product companies -- organized meetings with mergers and acquisition heads at 12 large corporations including Facebook, IBM, eBay, Oracle and VMware, industry body Nasscom is looking to do something similar over the coming months.

The iSpirt-organized meetings led by Jay Pullur of Pramati Technologies and Sanjay Shah of Invensys have resulted in an action plan to get investment bankers to work with start-ups to boost investor exits. Further meetings in Silicon Valley are planned in the next few months. iSpirt hopes to facilitate 40 buyouts in the next three years.

Nasscom, meanwhile, is planning to take 15 start-ups -- to be identified through the recently launched 10,000 Startups initiative-to the Valley to meet with top venture capital firms and start-up accelerators.

"The process will include introducing the startups to companies to corporate development guys and senior leaders in Valley. The objective is to let those companies know that there is innovation happening in India and to brand India as a destination for start-ups," said Jaivir Nagi, who is on short-term assignment from Google to run Nasscom's 10,000 Startups initiative.

Boosting visibility amongst the large buyers would help ease the problem of exits that start-up founders and early investors face. About 2,300 private technology companies globally were acquired last year, with Google and Facebook coming in as the most active acquirers, according to research CB Insights which tracks the space.

"For technology companies, there is not a wide-scale perception of Indian companies being innovative and engineering-driven the way companies from Israel are viewed for example. India needs a big win to get people excited about the country and the technology innovation that can come out of it," said Anand Sanwal, the New York-based founder of CB Insights.

While the iSpirt and Nasscom events in the Valley will work to change those perceptions, there are more plans to boost start-ups in India. ISpirt and Nasscom, who are quick to say that they are not competitors, are both planning events to help mentor start-ups.

Nasscom has been talking to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and the NCR, about start-up warehouses with in-house mentors and infrastructure.

Nasscom, which will run the locations, has already received funding from one state, Nagi said.